Children’s dental programs can help everyone

SIDEBAR

Ensuring that all Canadians have access to affordable dental care has been a struggle for many years. Recently, government programs, Public Health departments, and dentists have begun to work together to ensure that there are dental programs to assist all types of patients (especially young children).

An assortment of programs exist in Ontario to help families cover the cost of visiting a dentist:

• Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) provide a basic dental plan to members, spouses, and children less than 18 years of age.

• Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) offers emergency and urgent care to families that have no dental insurance and cannot afford to pay for children to visit the dentist. Children under 17 years of age are eligible. Cosmetic dentistry and orthodontics are not covered.

• Healthy Smiles is a sponsorship by this program allows free dental care to low income families that have no dental insurance and have children less than 18 years of age. Urgent or emergency issues are not covered. Cosmetic dentistry and orthodontics are not covered.

Families need to supply proof of coverage each month to the dental office.